Dawn of the Dark
by Aku Maru
Summary: The rise of the Dark Lord was not sudden. It was a long prcess of waiting and calculation. A short one shot delving into Voldemort's goals and setbacks and how he made his fatal mistake.


Disclaimer: I own no parts of this this story, characters or plot. They belong to, but not limited to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. and Scholastic Books, etc.  
  
Dedication: This is a birthday/Christmas fic to Sara of Unbroken Universe.  
  
__________________________________________________________  
  
Dawn of the Dark  
  
_________________________________________________________  
  
If there was ever a result he would never question, it was the fear invoked at the mere mention of the pseudonym bequeathed unto him at the dawn of his rising, and the sheer terror the enraptured masses expressed upon hearing his own chosen name: Lord Voldemort.  
  
The result, however, was merely a product of his ultimate goal. Just as domination was merely a step towards his primary objective.  
  
Before he had set his designs for the whole of the wizarding world, he had tested the merits of such a structure within the bowels of his own school: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He would have taken longer to finely tune his ideas to the natural prejudice of the magical community. Had he had the time, there would have been more to think like minded.  
  
Instead he had to end prematurely and settle unobserved in the following years. Gaining the unrelenting gaze of the populous named greatest wizard of the time had not been in his plan nor to his advantage. He refused to have his ambitions quelled before he could bring them to light. He had known that despite his good intentions, Dumbledore would have terminated his goal before it even lifted off the ground.  
  
From his years of waiting and observing for the right time of unrest, much of which he had kindled into existence, he had determined the only way to see his goal to its fruition was to become immortal. There was no other way for his intentions to be realized for any significant length of time.  
  
Thus many more years were spent waiting, studying, researching, and creating for the sole purpose of learning of a way to extend his life indefinitely and determining the best way to live that life as invincible.  
  
The appropriate moral and potential prospects coincided around the year 1970. Having kept in contact with old friends and admires, he knew exactly who would begin a list of those ready and willing to put his objectives into focus. Most were of similar age as himself, having come from the same schooling years if not his same school.  
  
But they had children.  
  
And who better to influence this new generation than the children of the old.  
  
This was easily the best opportunity to send into power those devoted solely to him.  
  
The beginning was not very difficult. His old school acquaintances were more than willing, seeing as how they owed him many favors. A few of the more gifted among them assisted in his search for immortality. The only unfortunate drawback was they believed the result was to be shared among the elite. Once they had achieved the most plausible answer, he took it upon himself to test the invulnerability of the result.  
  
As he had expected, there was nothing perfect about the results. He did however remove the obstacles impeding his rise to power. In addition he had something worth investigating when he had his legion of devoted followers. There would be at least one among them intelligent enough to continue the work, without believing he would benefit from the outcome.  
  
He had little to do with the immediate process of influencing the younger generation. A visit or two to this favored house, another or so to the next. He was busy with his own pursuits and planning the ultimate venture.  
  
However he did note who within which house would prove invaluable.  
  
His current and most necessary work was to avoid the notice of the current and nosy Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Dumbledore. The old coot never disappeared. And ever since his victory over Grindelwald had captured the minds of even more idiotic fools.  
  
But remaining underground, unnoticed, he would find a following among the dissatisfied masses left from Grindelwald. From there the masses would grow. Beginning with the children who were under constant influence of their parents' prejudices.  
  
He had many families under his influence around the year 1970, just those children were beginning their schooling. Some were in the middle of their required years, perfect to "protect" the younger among them.  
  
His influence grew. The Ministry played ignorant, being all but completely under his hand. Only Dumbledore stood in his way. Dumbledore and his not so secret, secret confederation of wizards who could not act without the Ministry's authorization and would never receive that authorization.  
  
That confederation caused him plenty of trouble. More than he was willing to admit. It appeared to be a conglomerate of wizards barely out of school and old men with feeble minds. Yet still it managed thwart many of his attempts to seize control. For he had determined that he needed the domination before he could successfully put into play his objective concerning Muggles and Mudbloods. But in order to ensure his domination he needed to be immortal. It was in both of those ventures that Dumbledore's confederation found ways to stop him. Primarily the Longbottoms and the Potters.  
  
The Longbottoms. A husband and wife team who seemed to do most of the field work for Dumbledore. Destroy them and destroy Dumbledore's tactical advantage from the Ministry.  
  
The Potters. The husband was a pureblood of long descent. The wife a mudblood. They appeared to be the inventive sector of the confederation. Destroy them and destroy Dumbledore's tactical advantage from within is own confederation.  
  
But who was more of a threat?  
  
The problem was not solved, but it was simplified with the knowledge from a surprising source. Yes, even he was surprised, especially by such an unexpected twist of fate. And he was not going to question too deeply his newest spy's reasons. So when he came bearing knowledge of a prophecy, lead blind by his own soon-to-be comrades, there was no point to ask why. At least not yet. The time would come when loyalty would be taken to task, but not while the connection was so tentative. He knew that if too much was demanded too soon of those of questionable backgrounds, he would loose them all the sooner. Which was why he waited for his followers to be indebted to him with no way out before he pressed his advantage.  
  
So when he received this unexpected knowledge from that unexpected source, he made efforts to draw this worthwhile spy deeper. And soon, as though without hesitation, the man sent vital information concerning Dumbledore's confederation and more specifically the Potters.  
  
He rearranged many of his plans to take into consideration this new source of information. To the point where he had two operations. One against the Potters. And one against the Longbottoms. He wasn't fool enough to believe only one of the families would be a threat. Especially now that both had a son.  
  
If anything, that made the families more dangerous.  
  
He become aware that there was someone within the Order of the Phoenix, such an annoying title, giving warning of his increased interest in the two families. But any of his followers new that. Which meant it could very well be a careless Death Eater and an exceptionally attentive follower of Dumbledore. However, he was under the impression the leak stemmed from deeper. From his unexpected source he was learning that more protection was centered around the Potters. And just as he was gathering force to do away with the Potters, his spy informed him of the decision to use the Fidelius Charm. It was obvious then that someone close to him was also close to Dumbledore.  
  
He now began to focus solely on the Potters. Recently it was their efforts which thwarted his objectives. The Longbottoms had taken a more minor role in subduing his Death Eaters and their attempts at sport. Thus, being less of an irritation. He would let his followers deal with that family when he dealt with the Potters.  
  
When word came that the Potters disappeared, it came in the form of their Secret Keeper. His unsuspecting little spy had proven himself once again unexpected.  
  
He gave the Potters a few days grace while coordinating the attack on the Longbottoms.  
  
Perhaps he was feeling too confident, but thanks to the work of his Potions Master on the old formulas, he had reason to believe nothing would fail as completely as it had previously.  
  
He would be rid of the adversary shortly. And for irony's sake, that night would be All Hallow's Eve. The night the spirits walked the earth to plague mankind with their trickery. 


End file.
